Known methods of applying revenue labels to packets of cigarettes comprise feeding the packets of cigarettes along a conveying path and through a labelling station; withdrawing a revenue label from a store by means of a pickup head; feeding the pickup head along a feed path through the labelling station; and applying the revenue label to a respective packet of cigarettes at the labelling station. Along the feed path and between the store and the labelling station, there are normally provided a cutting station, where each revenue label is cut to form a tear line, and a gumming station, where an inner surface of each label is coated with glue.
One example of a unit of the above type for applying revenue labels to packets of cigarettes is described in Patent Application EP 1502861 A1.
In known units of the above type for applying revenue labels to packets of cigarettes, when the unit is stopped on account of stoppage of the packing machine of which the unit forms part, the revenue labels on the pickup heads, i.e. the revenue labels withdrawn from the store but not yet applied to the packets of cigarettes, must be rejected. In particular, it is essential that the gummed revenue labels not yet applied to the packets be rejected, on account of the glue inevitably drying while the machine is idle, and so making the revenue labels unusable. It is also advisable to reject the revenue labels withdrawn from the store and not yet gummed, on account of the unit being easier to restart from a standard completely empty condition. In this connection, it should be pointed out that, though the revenue labels withdrawn from the store and not yet cut or gummed may theoretically be fed back into the store, this must be done manually, is a long, complex job, and is therefore economically unfeasible for the sake of salvaging one or two revenue labels.
In known units of the above type for applying revenue labels to packets of cigarettes, whenever the unit is stopped on account of stoppage of the packing machine of which the unit forms part, the revenue labels withdrawn from the store and not yet applied to the packets of cigarettes must be rejected manually by the operator opening the casings on the packing machine and manually removing the revenue labels from the pickup heads. Moreover, given their revenue value, the reject revenue labels cannot be disposed of, but must be applied to a cancellation ledger. Manually rejecting the revenue labels withdrawn from the store and not yet applied to the packets of cigarettes is therefore a relatively time-consuming job which, given the revenue value of the labels, must be performed by a trained, trusted operator.